The Neighbor

4.

"Rise and shine Rider, you don't mind if I call you by your last name right?"

I slowly look up and see Nick smiling at me with a plate of food and some water.

"So I made you breakfast. Eggs and bacon. I felt a little bad for stabbing you in the leg so I hope this makes up for it."

What is wrong with him? He's acting like this is an everyday occurrence. Does he seriously think that giving me food is going to help with the pain.

"Wow that looks painful, it also might get infected so right after you eat I'll get some bandages and clean it up, ok?"

Why is he acting nice all of a sudden? I'll question his logic later but all I can think about is downing that glass of water. "Can I speak please?" I was somewhat hesitant to ask the question considering what happened yesterday.

"Yes you can, thank you for asking first."

I sighed a breath of relief, "Can I have some of the water...please?"

"You know, for someone who's been kidnapped and tortured, you sure are polite. Although there could be the possibility of you just trying to get me to trust you so I can let you go. You aren't trying to do that are you Rider?"

Chills went down my spine, this guy can read me like a book. Although I would consider myself a polite person in any situation I'm in, I have been a bit extra. "No.. no of course not. I was just taught to have good manners, especially towards my elders." His face wasn't smiling anymore after that last comment. "Not that your old, I didn't mean it like that I just meant... um people that are older than me. That's all, s-sorry if I offended you." My voice cracked a little out of fear of what his response would be.

Unexpectedly he began to smile again, "It's ok, don't worry about it. I understand what your trying to say and I'm glad you understand your place. Here have some water."

I drank all of the water in a couple of gulps. "Thank you, Nick." He looked at me for a bit as if he was thinking about something.

"You're welcome."

He soon came back with a first aid kit and cleaned up the cut on my leg, my cheek, and the one on my arm from the previous night. I have to admit it stung like a b*tch but I bit my lip and kept quiet. He finished by bandaging them up although he wasn't exactly gentle about it.

"I think you should be fine, although you wouldn't have the one on your leg and your cheek if you hadn't broken the rules so let that be a reminder to you." I nodded back. "Now about the money you stole from me..." I froze, he already got the money from me but he didn't get the half that my friend got. "I'm curious as to where the other half went, you see I'm not stupid. I count my money and I know I had 10,000 dollars collectively in the items you stole. So my question is, where's the other half?"

I was terrified, I wanted to lie to protect my friend but I feel like he can tell when I'm lying to him. "Um... well s-sir, uh I don't know, I had all the money in my room. M-maybe you missed it." That was the worst lie I've ever told in my life but I don't know what he would plan to do to Jay if I told him who he was.

"You know what Rider, I like you. You seem like a nice guy, but you're a terrible liar. So I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me who you split the money with. If you don't I will F*CKING CUT ONE OF YOUR FINGERS OFF! Are we clear?" I nodded my head quickly. "Use your words."

"Y-yes". He grabbed his pocket knife and pressed it against my finger making sure I knew he was serious. "Can I ask a question, p-please?"

"Sure" he said reluctantly.

"If I give you the name of the other person, can you promise me you won't hurt them? Please, I'm the one who's at fault, he just tagged along for the ride just please don't hurt him." He looked into my eyes for a long time making me uneasy.

"Sure kid, I won't hurt your friend, unless he refuses to give it back then I'm not sure I can make any promises that he won't have a broken hand. Is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, th-thank you. His name is Jay, Jayden Smith."

"See now how hard was that, thank you for being honest with me. You get to keep your finger... for now."

What, for now? Does he plan on cutting my finger eventually, my heart raced at the thought.

"Well, I'm going to go look for him and ask him kindly to return my money. Don't try anything or you'll pay for it, ok?"

"O-ok". He walked out of the basement and presumably out the house by now. I've got to get out of here. I decided to try and untie the rope around my hands with my mouth. To my surprise it actually worked, I then untied my legs. I tried to walk up the stairs with a limp, I made it to the door and listened for any footsteps to make sure he was gone. The coast is clear, I walked out of the basement and limped my way to the front door. I can't believe it, I made it, I escaped. I walked outside and tried to walk to my house next door when all of a sudden a car came into the driveway I was crossing and hit me into the wall. Barley conscious I looked up to see a man grab me by the hair and slam my head against the pavement.
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Oof, well he almost made it, what a shame. Also, Nick is an odd ball isn't he, I don't even understand him sometimes and I created him. Anyways this chapter was more or less just showing a different side of Nick, one that's not as insane. Welp I hope your having a good day.